Faculty: Cindy Anderson

Perhaps Dr. Cindy Anderson’s introduction to sociology began at her childhood home in Morganton.

“I grew up in a family that encouraged creativity and curiosity,” said Anderson, professor and chair of East Carolina University’s Department of Sociology. “My father was a furniture designer and my mother worked in social services, so I was surrounded by people who valued both making things and helping others.”

She spent time outside riding bikes with friends or her brother and sister. There was reading, swimming, tennis, art camps and her grandparents’ farm where she helped in the garden, canned vegetables and rode a tractor with her grandfather.

“Looking back, those experiences taught me the importance of community, hard work and staying connected to the people and places that shape us,” Anderson said.

When the time came to pick a major in college, she noticed how many sociology classes she had taken and knew it was the obvious choice.

“I think sociology helps us to bring a critical awareness to patterns and things in society that people often assume are very individual and maybe only happen to them or their friend,” Anderson said. “Sociology helps us look at the bigger patterns so we can see that it wouldn’t be just individual.”

She taught and conducted research at Iowa State and Ohio before she was drawn back home to North Carolina, ECU and the Department of Sociology.

“I think one of the things that makes this department special is that the faculty really care about the students,” Anderson said. “The faculty interact with students regularly. They’re invested in students and their success in the program and their success after the program. Our class sizes in the upper levels are around 30 or 35 students so we can actually get to know the students a lot better. The faculty impress me because of their commitment to teaching, their commitment to finding new ways to teach and their commitment to the students.”

Anderson said she enjoys getting to know her students and those moments when she sees them truly understand sociology.

“It’s opening students’ eyes to a different way of seeing things,” she said. “I teach an intro class, and the first unit is on being able to see things sociologically, putting on your sociological glasses to look at the world where you see the connections between different events and people and patterns. It’s critical thinking skills, and when students develop critical thinking skills, that’s just very satisfying and exciting.

“They’ll write essays or talk in class that they had never thought of it this way and they’re glad they saw it this way. The intro students don’t all major in sociology, but they take it to their other disciplines, which is neat. Once you learn to look at things through a critical perspective and to look for the larger patterns and larger trends, it’s there, and that’s fascinating.”

Beyond teaching and running the program, Anderson is also involved in research. She’s explored labor markets and rural communities, examining how people navigate economic change and uncertainty.

Her latest project involves gig workers — freelancers or contractors who do mostly temporary work and are often paid by the task or project. What she’s found is that workers are remarkably resilient, especially considering difficult circumstances.

“They’re managing multiple jobs and multiple platforms. They’re putting all these different pieces together. They’re still just barely hanging on, usually in terms of income,” Anderson said. “These are low-wage jobs, and they’re not enough to support families. But when you step back and look at it, they’re making it work. It’s not fair. They’re not being paid adequately, but they’re doing the work and getting it done.”

Outside of class, you may find Anderson with her wife, Chris, and their two dogs, an 80-pound St. Bernard mix named Mystic and 10-pound Oscar. “They never fail to make new friends,” Anderson said of the dogs.

They enjoy time outdoors and discovering new places in eastern North Carolina. With the couple’s three adult children in Ohio and Michigan, Anderson said time spent with family and friends enjoying a good meal is never underappreciated.

“For me, a meal is about more than the food itself. It’s an act of generosity and a way of bringing people together,” Anderson said. “Sharing a meal with family and friends should not be taken for granted.”